The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group works to help people whose rights have been violated and investigates cases involving such abuse, as well as assessing the overall human rights situation in Ukraine. The Group also seeks to develop awareness of human rights issues through public events and its various publications

Oleksandr Chernenko, Head of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine [CVU] believes that the amendments to the Law on the Presidential Elections passed on Thursday, three days before the elections, and signed into law by President Yushchenko, will make it impossible to disrupt the voting but will wreak havoc in the work of precinct election commissions.

Mr Chernenko called the amendments passed by parliament “absolutely absurd” since “they abolish a quorum as the necessary attribute of a collegiate body”. He pointed out that there had been warnings of the danger of disruption to the elections through the artificial lack of a quorum back in summer. Yet the initiator of the review of the law, the Party of the Regions, only insisted on changes when this began to threaten their interests. “If political parties pass laws when it suits them, the question arises of where in that case the voter fits into the picture?”

He believes it possible that the amendments will arouse concern among European observers who after the first round of voting advised against making hasty changes to legislation. He expressed the hope that President Yushchenko would not sign the bill. In fact, as of Friday morning the law has come into force after the President signed it last night – translator.

Members of Yulia Tymoshenko’s party BYuT have accused 29 National Deputies of “Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defence” of colluding with Viktor Yanukovych’s party. They say that they have no doubt that this was done on the instruction of President Yushchenko.